Biodiversity Under Siege

France's overseas territories harbor extraordinary biodiversity—often endemic species found nowhere else. Climate change accelerates existing pressures from habitat loss and invasive species.

Terrestrial Ecosystems

New Caledonia's unique flora, evolved over millions of years of isolation, faces rapid environmental change. "Plants that survived since dinosaurs can't adapt to human-speed climate shift," explains botanist Dr. Gildas Gâteblé. "We're documenting extinctions in real-time."

Mountain ecosystems prove especially vulnerable: - Cloud forests retreat upslope until running out of mountain - Temperature-sensitive species face thermal squeeze - Pollinator-plant relationships disrupted - Fire regimes alter with changing precipitation

"Each lost species represents millions of years of evolution vanished forever," mourns conservation biologist Dr. Henri Blaffart. "And most disappear before we even know they existed."

Marine Biodiversity Crisis

The 2016 global bleaching event demonstrated reef vulnerability. "Seventy percent coral mortality in some New Caledonian sites," reports Dr. Fanny Houlbrèque. "Reefs built over centuries died in months."

Cascading impacts follow: - Fish populations crash without coral habitat - Coastal protection weakens as reefs degrade - Tourism attractions disappear - Fisheries productivity plummets

"Reefs are underwater rainforests," analogizes marine ecologist Dr. Laetitia Hédouin. "Imagine Amazon deforestation but hidden beneath waves."